West African leaders have agreed to club together to wage war on Nigeria's Boko Haram. The decision was made during a summit hosted by French President Francois Hollande in Paris. The US, France, and the UK have vowed to help Nigeria with intelligence.

The summit brought together Hollande and Nigerian President
Goodluck Jonathan, as well as the presidents of Cameroon, Niger,
Chad, and Benin. Representatives from the US and UK were also
present.

The West African nations vowed to wage war on the Islamist
militant group, which they say now has links to Al-Qaeda.

“Boko Haram is no longer a local terrorist group, it is
operating clearly as an Al-Qaeda operation. It is an Al-Qaeda of
West Africa,” Jonathan said during a news conference in
Paris.

“We have shown our commitment for a regional approach.
Without West African countries coming together we will not be
able to crush these terrorists,” he added.

Both President Idriss Deby of Chad and Cameroon’s President Paul
Biya used even stronger language.

“We are here to declare war on Boko Haram,” said Biya.

Biya also stressed that the problem is no longer regional, but
also affects the West, recalling the kidnapping of two Italian
priests and a Canadian nun by Boko Haram in April.

Idriss echoed Biya's words, saying the West African nations had
agreed to “take this situation head on and launch a total war
on Boko Haram.”

After the meeting, French President Hollande said that all those
present had agreed on a “global and regional action
plan.”

“Boko Haram is a major threat for all of western Africa and
now central Africa, with proven links to AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb) and other terrorist organizations,” said
Hollande.

France has about 6,000 soldiers in neighboring Mali, as well as
troops in the nearby Central African Republic, and is therefore
dedicated to preventing a deterioration in Nigeria's security.

Boko Haram abducted 223 schoolgirls, Muslims and Christians, from
their hostel in northeast Nigeria last month, where the radical
Islamist group is based.

Thousands of people have been killed by Boko Haram since the
group surfaced five years ago. There has been intense criticism
of Nigeria’s alleged slow and inadequate reaction to the
kidnappings both at home and abroad, which prompted President
Goodluck Jonathan to accept intelligence help from the US,
France, and Britain.

UK Foreign Minister William Hague told reporters before the start
of the meeting that Nigerian security forces have not been
organized in a way to deal effectively with Boko Haram.

“Nigerian security forces have not been well structured for
this kind of thing and that has been shown by the problem getting
worse. We can help with that which is why we are offering to
embed military advisors within the Nigerian headquarters,”
he said.

Hague added that Nigeria must show leadership and improve
cooperation with its neighbors in order to take on the Islamist
group. Nigeria and its southern neighbor Cameroon have not always
had strong positive relations.

“Nigeria has the main responsibility and must be the leading
nation in tackling this and that includes to mount an effective
response and improve development,” said Hague.

Nigerian security forces have said they are overwhelmed and
outgunned by the Islamist group, and soldiers told the Associated
Press that some in the ranks actually fight alongside the
Islamists.

President Jonathan was due to visit Chibok – the town where the
schoolgirls were abducted – on Friday, but his trip was canceled
due to security concerns.

A video emerged earlier this week showing 100 of the girls, in
which Boko Haram proposed a prisoner exchange. The group has
warned that it will sell the girls into slavery if its demands
are not met. However, Jonathan has ruled out the possibility of
such negotiations.

News of fresh violence was reported on the Nigeria-Cameroon
border as the summit got underway on Saturday.

In the far north of Cameroon, a camp run by a Chinese engineering
company was attacked on Friday night, with one person reportedly
killed, another injured, and ten missing – including a French
family of seven. In a separate incident in Nigeria, 11 people
were reportedly killed in an attack on a village. Authorities are
blaming both attacks on Boko Haram.